The fifth annual All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival comes to the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood Friday. Some 54 movies from 11 countries will screen through the weekend, culminating in a glitzy Veterans Day ceremony in which the fest’s Legendary Athletes Awards will be given to Olympic superstars Bruce Jenner, Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner.

“I didn’t set out thinking I wanted to incorporate sports and films together in Hollywood, but that’s just how it ended up,” said festival director and founder Pat Battistini, a college football coach from Michigan turned Santa Clarita-based producer-director-writer and sometimes actor. “I loved coaching, but I seemed to love movies more, especially sports films.”

The lineup is akin to an indie “Wide World of Sports,” with features or shorts on everything from running, soccer and skiing to bodybuilding, parkour and pool.

“I’ll get all kinds of sports submitted,” said Battistini, who headed up a selection committee that picked this year’s slate from more than 100 hopefuls. “What our defi­nition is is something competitive, whether it’s mental or physical. We had a documentary one year about junior high school students who built robots that competed against each other with soccer balls.”

Some of this year’s local entries bear out the eclectic lineup. Matt Greenstone, whose motion-graphics company, Angel City Studios, is a stone’s throw from the El Portal, produced and directed “Road Warriors,” about the supercharged world of competitive motorcycle road racing.

“It’s huge,” said Greenstone, a fan and sometime racer himself. “Pat has put together this really amazing lineup. For us to be included among movies about a lot of other sports that are a lot more prestigious than motorcycle road racing is something that is very important for us — a validation for us.”

Then there’s “Walk On,” a documentary about — and co-produced by — Joseph Kibler, a disabled 21-year-old born with HIV who didn’t take his first steps until 18 and burned to participate in the 6.2-mile Los Angeles AIDS Walk. It was directed by Mark Bashian, Kibler’s instructor at the Burbank film school Video Symphony.

“What’s cool about it being in the All Sports Film Festival for me is that, to me, it is a sport,” said Kibler, who lived in North Hollywood while training for the walk and shooting the movie. “It took a lot, and that idea that walking can be a sport, that it takes time and effort to do it, is something that a lot of people don’t know. For me, it was a very big push and a very big deal.”

“I’ve seen a couple of the films. They’re really wide-ranging and surprisingly emotional,” said Jay Irwin, co-manager of the El Portal, which plays host to the festival for the third year. “So it’s exciting stuff … They’ve got Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, who live in the Valley — I mean, that’s cool on its own. And with Bruce Jenner coming in, we anticipate there’s going to be a lot of paparazzi, et cetera, there.”

Jenner’s wife, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” matriarch Kris Jenner, will present the award, with kids Kendall, Kylie, Brandon and Brandon’s wife, Leah, in attendance.

“With the upcoming Olympic games just a few months away, I am honored to be recognized by the All Sports Film Festival with their Legendary Athletes Award,” said decathlon gold medalist Jenner via email. “Sports plays on an international stage … capable of uniting people and nations. Each film in the festival tells an important story — one that will motivate, inspire, teach and celebrate athletes and future athletes everywhere.”

Closing night will feature an auction of collectible sports items to benefit Paralyzed Veterans of America, as well as a 25th-anniversary screening of “Field of Dreams.” Awards will also be handed out.

“We’re just trying to get people in to see these great films that usually don’t get to see the light of day at other festivals or on television,” Battistini said. “I know that there’s a lot more I can do, and I know this can be a lot bigger, but I feel very lucky that we are where we are right now.”

Bob Straus has been covering film at the L.A. Daily News since 1989. He wouldn't say the movies have gotten worse in that time, but they do keep getting harder to love. Fortunately, he still loves them.

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